Chapter 4 Mr. Mirière was renamed Bishop Bienvenu

The Bishop's College in Digne is adjacent to the hospital. The Bishop's College is a vast and magnificent building built of stone. It was built at the beginning of the previous century by Henri Piet, Bishop of Digne in 1712.It was indeed a luxurious mansion.Everything in it has a luxurious style, the bishop's private residence, large and small drawing rooms, various rooms, quite spacious courtyards, vaulted cloisters in the ancient Florentine style, and lush gardens.Downstairs, on the side facing the garden, there is a magnificent long hall like a verandah. On July 29, 1714, Bishop Henri Pietret had a public banquet in that dining room for these dignitaries:

Prince of Embrun - Archbishop Charles Bruira de Genlis; Capuchin monk - Antoine de Meggini, bishop of Grasse; French Master of Prayer - Philippe de Vendome, Abbot of Saint-Honoré in the Lérins Islands; Baron Vance - Bishop França de Baidon de Glion; Nobility of Glandives - Bishop César de Chablain de Vogelgil; The priest of the church-the common preacher before the emperor-the nobleman of Senes-the bishop Jean Shah Alan. The portraits of these seven venerable characters have always adorned the long hall, and the memorable date "July 29, 1714" is also inscribed in gold letters on a white marble tablet in the hall.

The hospital was a narrow and humble house with only one floor and a small garden. The bishop visited the hospital three days after his arrival.After the visit, he respectfully invited the dean to his home. "Mr. Dean," he said, "how many patients do you have now?" "Twenty-six, my bishop." "Exactly as I counted," said the Bishop. "Those beds," the director continued, "are too close to each other, and they are crowded together." "That's exactly what I noticed." "Those wards are just small rooms, and the air in them is difficult to circulate."

"That's exactly what I felt." "And, even when there is a ray of sunshine, the garden is very small for the patients who are just getting out of bed." "That's exactly what I saw." "In terms of infectious diseases, we had typhoid fever this year, and rash two years ago. Sometimes there were as many as a hundred patients. We really didn't know what to do." "That's exactly what I thought." "What can we do, my Bishop?" said the Abbot. "We must make do with it." It was in the gallery-style dining room downstairs that the conversation took place.

The Bishop was silent for a moment, then turned suddenly to the Abbot. "Sir," he said, "how many beds do you think this hall can accommodate?" "The bishop's dining room!" cried the panic-stricken abbot. The bishop looked around the hall, as if calculating with his eyes. "This place is big enough for twenty beds!" he said to himself, and then raised his voice again. "Look, Mr. Superior, I tell you that there is clearly something wrong here. Twenty-six of you live in five or six There is room for sixty here for the three of us. There is a mistake here, I tell you. You come to my house, and I to yours. Give me back my house. Here is your home."

The next day, the twenty-six poor people lived in the bishop's house, while the bishop lived in the hospital. M. Myriel had absolutely no property, for his family had fallen into disrepair during the Revolution.His sister received a pension of five hundred francs a year, which was just enough to cover her own living in the abbe's house.M. Myriel received a salary of fifteen thousand francs from the government as bishop.On the day he moved into the hospital house, M. Myriel made a decision once and for all to divide the sum into the following purposes.Below we copy a list written by him himself.

During his tenure as Bishop of Digne, M. Myriel hardly changed this distribution.We know that he called this "distributing his household." That distribution was accepted by Miss Baptistine with absolute obedience.M. Myriel was to that saint her elder brother and at the same time her bishop, a friend in the world and a superior in religion.She loved him and admired him with the utmost simplicity.When he spoke, she bowed her head and listened; when he acted, she followed and served.Only Madame Magloire, the maid, was a little trifling.We have seen that the bishop left only a thousand livres for himself, which, when combined with the Baptistine girl's pension, amounted to fifteen hundred francs a year.The two old women and the old man lived on fifteen hundred francs.

When priests from the town came to Digne, Monsieur Bishop still had ways of entertaining them.It was due to the extreme frugality of Madame Magloire and the prudence of Miss Baptistine. One day—about three months in Digne—the bishop said: "If this continues, I really can't sustain it!" "Of course!" said Madame Magloire. "My lord bishop didn't even ask for the city transportation fee and the diocesan inspection fee that should be paid by the province. For the former bishops, it was paid as usual." "Yes!" said the Bishop. "You are right, Madame Magloire."

He applied. Some time later the Council of the Department examined the application, and approved him an annual sum of three thousand francs, in the name of "Monsieur Bishop's Saloon, Postal Car, and Rector's Allowance." This incident caused the local gentry to shout.A senator of the Imperial Senate, formerly a senator of the Council of Five Hundred, who had sponsored the coup of the Eighteenth Brumaire, lived in a stately senatorial mansion near the city of Digne, for which he wrote sent a bitter and secret letter to the Minister of Religion, M. Pigo de Preamenet.We now transcribe its original text:

) As for me, I only support Caesar..." On the other hand, this incident greatly pleased Madame Magloire. "There!" she said to Miss Baptistine. "The Bishop, who at first was only interested in others, ended up looking out for himself. He has divided his charitable offerings, and the three thousand francs are finally ours." That night, the bishop wrote such a list and gave it to his sister. This is M. Myriere's budget statement. As for the additional expenses of the bishop, as well as fees for requesting early weddings, fees for breaking the fast, fees for baptism of babies before death, mission fees, fees for consecrating churches or private chapels, fees for wedding ceremonies, etc., this bishop is a rich man. Go up to get it and give it to the poor; get it urgently and give it urgently.

It didn't take long for money donated by all parties to come in.Rich and poor alike knocked at M. Myrière's door, and the latter came to ask for the donation left by the former.In less than a year the bishop was the custodian of all beneficence and helper of afflictions.Great sums of money pass through his hands, but nothing alters his way of life in the slightest, or causes him to add anything superfluous to what is necessary for him. Nay, since fraternity at the top of society is no match for poverty at the bottom, we may say that all the money is paid out long before it is received, like water on dry land; money; and he seized it from himself. Bishops routinely put their Christian names on the headers of their proclamations and letters.The local poor, out of an instinctive love, chose one of the bishop's names that was meaningful to them, and called him Bishop Bienvenu.We shall always call him by that name as well.And this name is very satisfactory to him. "I like the name," he said, "Bianferu is better than the Bishop." We do not claim that the image portrayed here is true to life, we only say that it is approximate.